Month: May 2016

Healthcare IT is the new philosopher’s stone. Everybody wants a piece of it.

So, what is the big deal? Well, for one, it is a billion dollar market. According to the Grand View Research, the global healthcare IT market is estimated to touch USD 104.5 billion by 2020.

The US healthcare industry is the costliest in the world, however, it is one of the worst performing industry when it comes to healthcare outcomes. To regulate and streamline the industry, the US government, in 2010, passed regulatory laws under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The laws mandated healthcare insurance companies to bring in certain reforms that put the consumers in charge of their health. During the same time, Triple Aim was included in the US national strategy for tackling health issues within the triple aim framework, especially under the ACA. The Triple Aim is a framework within which providers, payers and legislators can design and provide value based care.

So now,

Under ACA

Before ACA

Payers should reimburse based on the value of care delivered to patients. Patients with pre-conditions also have the right to be insured.

Payers reimbursed for services provided by healthcare providers (fee-for-service). This inflated the US healthcare industry. There was a huge variation in terms of cost of healthcare across the country.

Providers are responsible for providing care across the entire health care continuum. It is about the value and not the volume of care provided.

Providers earned based on the number of tests and scans prescribed to the patient. The more the number of services provided, higher the cost of treatment. Although that was not a guarantee that the best care was being provided to the patient.

Patients are at the center of value-based care provided by healthcare providers.

Patients were at the receiving end of whatever care was prescribed or delivered by the provider. Cost escalated while care deteriorated.

To enable providers to deliver best quality care at the least possible cost, payers to reimburse effectively based on the value of care provided to patients, patients to cooperate with the payers and providers to enable value-based care it is important to create a 360º view into patient care. This is where healthcare IT helps by providing the right technology that will:

Enable real-time monitoring and aggregation of data

Support real-time analysis of data

Allow the seamless flow of solid information to get a holistic view of patient data